The present invention relates to polishing pads for chemical mechanical planarization, and in particular, relates to polishing pads having reduced striations. Further, the present invention relates to apparatuses and methods for forming polishing pads having reduced striations.
In the fabrication of integrated circuits and other electronic devices, multiple layers of conducting, semiconducting and dielectric materials are deposited on or removed from a surface of a semiconductor wafer. Thin layers of conducting, semiconducting, and dielectric materials may be deposited by a number of deposition techniques. Common deposition techniques in modem processing include physical vapor deposition (PVD), also known as sputtering, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), and electrochemical plating (ECP).
As layers of materials are sequentially deposited and removed, the uppermost surface of the wafer becomes non-planar. Because subsequent semiconductor processing (e.g., metallization) requires the wafer to have a flat surface, the wafer needs to be planarized. Planarization is useful in removing undesired surface topography and surface defects, such as rough surfaces, agglomerated materials, crystal lattice damage, scratches, and contaminated layers or materials.
Chemical mechanical planarization, or chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), is a common technique used to planarize substrates, such as semiconductor wafers. In conventional CMP, a wafer is mounted on a carrier assembly and positioned in contact with a polishing pad in a CMP apparatus. The carrier assembly provides a controllable pressure to the wafer, pressing it against the polishing pad. The pad is moved (e.g., rotated) relative to the wafer by an external driving force. Simultaneously therewith, a chemical composition (“slurry”) or other polishing solution is provided between the wafer and the polishing pad. Thus, the wafer surface is polished and made planar by the chemical and mechanical action of the pad surface and slurry.
Reinhardt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,362, discloses an exemplary polishing pad known in the art. The polishing pad of Reinhardt comprises a polymeric matrix having microspheres dispersed throughout. Generally, the micropheres are blended and mixed with a liquid polymeric material, for example, in a mass flow feed delivery system, and transferred to a mold for curing. The molded article is then cut to form polishing pads. Unfortunately, polishing pads formed in this manner may have unwanted striations.
Striations are the result of variations in bulk density of the microspheres in the polymeric matrix. In other words, different areas of higher and lower concentrations of the microspheres are present in the polymeric matrix. For example, in the polishing pad of Reinhardt, the low true density of the microspheres inhibits the free or uninterrupted flow of the microspheres in the mass flow feed delivery system. Consequently, the microspheres tend to “cluster” together in varying degrees, at different points in the delivery process (i.e., causing variations in bulk density or striations). These striations are unwanted because they may cause unpredictable, and perhaps, detrimental, polishing performances from one polishing pad to the next. Moreover, these striations may negatively affect polishing performances within the pad itself.
Typically, these striations were minimized by utilizing combinations of gravity, various storage hopper designs, mechanical forces (e.g., vibration), and manual, periodic-sample measuring, adjusting process conditions and re-measuring to determine bulk density. However, prior art apparatuses and methods are inadequate and inefficient at controlling bulk density to meet the ever increasing demands of the CMP industry.
Hence, what is needed is a polishing pad having reduced striations. Moreover, what is needed is an apparatus and an efficient method of forming a polishing pad having reduced striations.